ABSTRACT
The democratic society had to establish institutions likely to ensure at once the equality of all citizens and the various expressions of the "authenticity" of individuals who referred to particular religious and historical traditions. This classic solution is considered obsolete by theoreticians of a communitarian persuasion. The institutions of the immigrant communities–their churches, schools, newspapers, and associations–had been created by the immigrants themselves; at first, the State did not intervene in "ethnic" life. In France, "republican" reluctance persistently curbs or slows down evolution toward an Ethnic Providence State, whereas the Cultural and Sports Intervention State is particularly active. European citizenship is in the process of taking note of the transformation of society, of recognizing the value of multiculturalism, and of constructing a new, genuinely democratic, citizenship that eschews the political transcendence characterizing a republican citizenship inherited from a national history.
